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What Is It?

What Is It? is a place for engineers to test their knowledge (and sense of humor). Each week (or month, or...) the CR4 team will post an unidentified picture of an object, tool, animal, something. We're looking for your best (or funniest) guesses at what it might be in the comments.

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What Is It? for 1/15/12

Posted January 15, 2012 12:00 AM
Pathfinder Tags: What is it? Where is it?

This week's image:

This week's contest is more of a "where is it" than a "what is it". Click here for the answer!

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SolarEagle
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#1

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 12:18 AM

Looks like Lake MacDonald in Glacier National Park in Canada...

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#12
In reply to #1

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 8:08 AM

Maybe it's Waterton Lake, with that line of floating markers indicating the U. S. - Canadian border. (?)

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#2

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 8:47 AM

It's anywhere there are trees, water and mountains and unless one ever happened to be at exactly the spot indicated by the photo it is virtually impossible to know.

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#3

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 9:21 AM

It's the mystery fleet of robotic boats waiting for there new commands from Skynet. I can't tell you where they are because they'd kill me.

I've got to run, the Govenator wants his cigar lit.

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#4

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 10:24 AM

It's the place I went on vacation where it rained continually for a week, except this photo was taken two days after I left.

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#5
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Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 2:51 PM

Try pig Latin instead.

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#6

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 5:14 PM

It is the high way to the mountains after some heavy rain.

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#7

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/15/2012 10:55 PM

Looks like a volleyball floating in a high mountain lake between some boats.

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#8

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 5:11 AM

Party Cove!

At 7 am.

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#9

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 6:14 AM

Well, there are clues in the photograph, although I don't know what to make of most of them.

The mountains

To ask the obvious question first - does anyone recognise the shape?

I think there's a tree-line so the snow is probably permanent. But the mountains are not that much higher than the water. So it's probably a lake as it's probably a way above sea level.

The rock formation - the photograph isn't high enough resolution for us to have a go at the geology but does anyone recognise anything about that?

The foliage

Looks mostly like Pinus. Too small to be Sequoia. Implies Northern hemisphere, where it's native, but the land is flat where the trees are so could be a commercial plantation which would also bring in some Southern locations such as New Zealand.

There's a couple of more bushy species near the water's edge that I don't recognise. Anyone?

Don't recognise any of the mountain foliage, resolution forbids, but it looks stunted from here.

The water

The fact that the lake (probably) is so close to the snowline implies a relatively high latitude. It's calm, which again suggests a lake (although that could just be the time the photo way taken) there's no highly defined tide line (ditto).

The moorings are permanent swing moorings. Relatively light so again, unlikely to be sea moorings. The boats aren't fantastically strongly moored so no-one's expecting heavy weather.

Could be a relatively sheltered sea inlet in a pretty high latitude but I don't think so.

The boats

This one is the most interesting. They're all similar. I think there's nine motorboats, all smallish, no sailboats. No sailboats implies there's not a lot of wind around which backs up the sheltered location thing. Looks like five flybridge cruisers, four speedboats. Speedboats in particular are an easy-reach leisure activity, you don't drive 100 miles to spend two hours in your speedboat.

Infrastructure. Launching facilities, parking facilities, fuel sales all need to be nearby. This isn't a quiet backwater.

This is also somewhere that's worth keeping a boat on. It's not a small lake. I also says something about the economy of the region. People here have enough money to spend on flybridge cruisers that are left moored dup for some time.

Wildfowl / wildlife

Can't see any. Which is annoying, that would have helped a lot. However, does the fact that there isn't any imply something?

Lot's more questions than answers I know but maybe we can fill bits in?

Evan
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#13
In reply to #9

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 9:24 AM

Without offering a single suggestion, you have given the best answer so far. Lots of shot-in-the-dark guesses are not going to get us any closer to the answer. Logical process of elimination and deduction are superior.

With that having been said, I think the buoys down the middle lend creadance to one of the shots-in-the-dark being probable.

-A-

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#10

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 7:47 AM

Lake Taho?

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#11

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 8:06 AM

My first thought was Lake Lucerne or possibly Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

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#14

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 10:07 AM

I had the delightful opportunity to visit the Yellowstone region last Fall. This image looks VERY similar to some of the photos I took of the Grand Tetons.
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#16
In reply to #14

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 11:05 AM

I'm casting a firm vote for Jackson Lake, Grand Tetons, Wyoming.

Photo was probably taken from Colter Bay Village Marina.

http://www.gtlc.com/activities/marina-overview.aspx
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#18
In reply to #16

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 4:57 PM

Yeah, I think you nailed it. The mountain shown in the photo taken from the marina you mention, matches one of the mountains in the OP photo with only a slight shift in perspective.

I assume your exact answer means the CR4 folks are giving you an all-expenses paid trip there.

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#19
In reply to #18

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 5:19 PM

Ha! That would be a surprise.

I'd definitely go back to the region for another visit. Supposedly a fantastic ski destination. The sights are awesome, especially up in Yellowstone. However, I also enjoyed my visit to snake-river-brewing . Yummy brews and pretty good food.
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#20
In reply to #16

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 5:49 PM

That's it!

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/26908709?source=wapi&referrer=kh.google.com

I'd never have thought of Wyoming. Must go there, looks fantastic.
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#15

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 10:35 AM

None of the boats have fixed hard tops, and the boat in the fore ground appears to have a swim deck, so the climate is probably not terribly cold year-round.

The bouys are close together, and there are a lot of them, so this lane is probably marked for larger boats like barges that we don't see in the picture. This is probably a river, not a lake.

The mountains appear to be pretty tall, and they seem to jut straight up from the ground which reminds me of the North Western Rocky Mountains; maybe Colorado or Idaho.

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#17

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/16/2012 3:39 PM

I agree with #16, it is view from Colter Bay, Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY. Would love to visit.

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#21

Ware?

01/17/2012 6:30 AM

Here? just up the road from me.

Del

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#22

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/17/2012 7:13 AM

Leeks Marina on Jackson Lake. Grand Tetons in the back ground. Peak at left is Mount Moran.

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#23

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

01/18/2012 7:09 AM

It's Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Colter Bay to be specific.

evanmjones asked a lot of questions that were leaning in the right direction.

mjb962853 was the first one to guess the specific location.

LakeGrl was also right.

ozzb had the right lake - wrong marina.

Congratulations to all! Sorry, no free trip. But I can post more pictures if you'd like.

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#24

Re: What Is It? for 1/15/12

03/27/2013 4:45 AM

its the swmming pool in my backyard lmao

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